It has long been the practice when training horses to place a halter or harness over the head of the horse to aid in teaching the horse to obey commands. Early training devices often employed a bit, which was placed in the horse's mouth in order to effect control over the animal. Bitted bridles were found to be unsatisfactory training devices, however, because horses instinctively fought against the bit, thus causing injury to the horse's mouth.
Several patents have disclosed bitless harnesses which effect control over the horse by applying pressure to sensitive portions of the horse's head, such as, across the top of the head, behind the ears, across the front of the nose or under the chin. These devices typically employ bosals, cords or similar devices which are held in contact with the head and are caused to exert pressure on sensitive areas through a variety of mechanisms. One of the drawbacks of these prior art devices is that they often cause injury by digging into the soft portions of the horse's head.